To expect online food shops to arrive within allocated time?

[morningtrain]

What’s the point if they don’t?! The last few I’ve had from both Ocado & Tesco have either been early or late..& not by minutes. Currently waiting for one that was booked 7-8pm. Previously had driver waiting outside when he arrived an hour early & we weren’t home too.. It’s infuriating.

Any time we've had a delivery early they text to say they'll be early but will wait at your property until the allocated time. We've also had texts if they are running late (both Asda and Tesco, although Asda are better at communicating).
I don't mind in that case but if they just show up late and don't let you know then that's irritating. Maybe you need to change supermarket if it's the same one letting you down.

They have a VERY basic easy job to ! Drive a van and drop the contents to different houses at different times! Not exactly brain surgery is it!!

I must be very lucky as I’ve never has a late delivery from Tesco in over 20 years of having deliveries. A couple of times I’ve had a phone call from the driver asking if he could come early and if I’m in, I will agree. Once he was up the road delivering to a neighbour and my delivery was booked for a couple of hours later so it made sense for him to deliver to me at the same time.

But then I’m a kind person who really appreciates the delivery drivers, I have mobility issues and they are always willing to carry my food into the kitchen and usually help me unload. In all this hot weather I always offer them a bottle of cold water to take away and they are really grateful - I actually buy bottles of water specifically to give them ( and other delivery people or workmen) as I use reusable bottles when I go out.

I agree with you, but it’s also quite tricky to get a delivery schedule bang on, and Tesco, in my experience, are pretty good. If they’re early, so long as they’re prepared to wait if necessary, I don’t see the issue. I wouldn’t book a delivery if I had somewhere to be, so lateness isn’t a massive problem, usually.

I ordered a few bits from Tesco whoosh today. They arrived on time.... along with someone else's order!!!
I have rung customer services but they are unable to track the order.
So if anyone is missing their order today.... I've got it 🤣🤣🤣

Ocado offer two options, a more expensive 1 hour delivery slot, or a cheaper 4 hour option. I choose between the two depending on how busy I am on the day of delivery.

I have complained when I have paid £7 for a one hour delivery and then they turn up early (without calling ahead) as this is not the service I have paid for...

You should try and make a delivery on time when you get stuvk in rush hour traffic in the centre of Birmingham, with road works everywhere. Then you'll realise how bad it can get.
My friend is a delivery driver for a supermarket. He was stuck like this is Brum way after his finishing time, with deliveries still to make, and the traffic wasn't moving.
He's had people trying to break into the back of his van to steal the food.
He's had to struggle through when he needs to loo and there's nowhere to go and leave the van in a safe place.
Just be thankful you're in the priveleged position of having someone do your shopping for you for a pitiful small fee.

Once more for those at the back: no-one is blaming the drivers!

I think that everyone knows that traffic happens, which can cause delays. However, a simple phonecall to the customer explaining this, and asking if it’s still convenient to deliver the goods at a later time, wouldn’t go amiss. (I know alot of delivery drivers do do this, but some don’t).

I’ve always said to our Tesco delivery drivers we are more than happy for them to come early. I remember they delivered to our next door neighbour at one point, we had a slot a couple of hours later, so I asked if they had ours on the van too and we were happy for them to deliver then if it made things easier for them (which is did apparently). We often get a phone call or a text asking if they can come up to a couple of hours early on a Sunday morning. We always say yes as we are home and it makes their life a little easier. Our town is 40 mins away from the store. If multiple people from our town book the first slot of the day, they will struggle to deliver them all from one van as they will only have 20 mins by the rind they get to the town! Yet it’s incredibly rare that they are late.

This past Saturday I had Tesco booked between 1 and 2pm.

He pulled up at 12:40. I don't mind them being early, it's when they're late and I'm sat in "waiting mode" that I get pissed off.

I have to disagree with you there.
There are some pp who are quite clearly blaming the drivers!
And they don't realise what a shit job it can be at times. They're sitting at their kitchen tables, furiously tapping their perfectly manicured nails, waiting for their deliveries, because they can't be assed to do their own shopping!

As far as I can see they're only blaming the drivers where there is a lack of communication/willingness to accept that people may be busy outside of their delivery slot

Why do you have some kind of weird anger against people who choose to get their shopping delivered? It's hardly an elite service.

Problem solved then, for the people who need their deliveries to arrive without any problems, use Sainsbury's.

I think it partly depends where you live and what timeslot you're choosing. I have shopped with Ocado for nearly 20 years and they almost always arrive within the timeslot. I used to get a 7am delivery, though, but stopped because that one often came early due to low demand for the previous slot. I was home but just not ready at 6.15am!

I'm fine with an early delivery if (a) it suits me, and (b) they let me know, (c) aren't grumpy if I say no.

I'm not going to rearrange my day, dash out of the shower, abandon work meetings etc, so I can cater for an early delivery though

If I wanted it earlier, I'd have booked an earlier slot.

As for:

@TheFormerMrsTruelove That’s without customers demanding that delivery drivers climb three flights of stairs to bring the shopping to their flat door, or fucking about with substitutions and wanting to check the use by dates of everything before they accept it.

Of course the drivers should deliver to the flat door if those are the rules, and checking substitutions and use by dates is just sensible. Tesco delivered me a roast pork joint last week that was eat by the following day - no mention of this short shelf life. Husband didn't notice, and we've since taken it up with tesco for a refund, but would have been easier at the door.

What is your problem with people doing the job they are employed and paid to do?

What are you talking about? Where have I said that I have a problem with anyone doing the job they’re paid to do? I don’t expect anyone to hang on to my every word, but if you’re going to ask questions with such an accusatory tone then, for fucks sake, at least have the courtesy to read and digest what I’ve actually said. I repeat, I don’t have a problem with someone doing the job they are employed and paid to do. Nor do I have a problem with anyone using a home shopping service. What I do have a problem with is someone whining that their shopping (that someone else has picked and packed for them) is late, without having any understanding of the issues faced by delivery drivers on a day to day basis and acting like the driver has missed your slot on purpose because they just don’t understand just how busy you are.

If your Tesco driver had ten customers like you, who all wanted to check their delivery dates at the door, then all he has to do is get stuck in some slow moving traffic and bang, he’s missed your delivery slot and he’s an hour late. Add in traffic jams, new builds, road works and the fact that they’ve either got to pull over to use their phone to call the customer to tell them they’ll be late, or run the risk of the police seeing them and deciding that they’re being distracted by their hands free device, or hope that someone in the store managed to call the customer before they finished their shift, and they’ve got a lot to work against.

The OP has said that she’s not blaming the driver but it’s the supermarkets she has an issue with. Completely failing to understand that if she complains to the supermarkets, it’s the driver who will be penalised for failing to meet his targets. The supermarkets aren’t going to adjust their delivery slot times because they know that sometimes a driver will have a run of customers who will just take their bags without issue, meaning the driver gets ahead of themselves. But then they get some other whiny fucker complaining that the driver has had the temerity to enquire whether they’re available to take their shopping in early.

The level of self absorption and entitlement some of you feel, just because you’ve paid less than the price of a cup of coffee to have someone do your shopping for you, is shameful. Fuck every other customer and fuck whatever the driver has to contend with, just so long as you get your shopping delivered on time.

@Legomania couldn't have put this pp better myself!

Tesco is on time here 99 times out of 100. If it was unreliable I'd switch.

Absolute virtue signalling crap. Musn't grumble, someone might lose their job! Utter nonsense.

OP, YRDNBU. I have had this a bit in the past. I’ve booked a £7 delivery window only to have drivers want to deliver within a less convenient £4 delivery window. It feels like I am subsidising Tesco to suit the driver’s convenience.

Surely people don't really check the dates by the door! Crikey, no wonder some drivers are late. That's not on the delivery driver either, staff who pick are supposed to check the dates.
It's never occurred to me to hold them up by checking the dates. Mind you I never used to insist they brought our shopping to the flat door before we moved to a house either. I'm happy to make their job a bit easier.
The only time I complained (and it was Tesco) was when they turned up nearly an hour and a half late. I had had to go out so my DD brought the shopping in and the delivery driver told her off for being too slow. He was obviously pissed off because he'd been on held up somewhere but that was not my DDs fault. I felt bad afterwards though as I've not seen him since and just hope he didn't loose his job.

Oh do shut up

I quickly check them these days because Tesco have a habit of not informing me of short shelf life items, which they are supposed to do.

It doesn't take any extra time to glance at the date of a few items as you lift them out of the crate.

I hope you get some support for whatever is causing this level of hatred. We are talking about shopping delivery for goodness sake. Seriously.